Wednesday, March 25, 2015

200,000 Euro for the Royal Canal Greenway has been allocated by the National Transport Authority (NTA) and Fingal County Council (FCC) in their Programme of Works 2015.The spending allocation has been allocated for the:o Finalisation of the design, planning and preparation of tender documents for this section of the Royal Canal Route from Phibsboro to Ashtown – €100,000o Planning and design of cycle route on Royal Canal towpath, from 12th Lock to the county boundary with Kildare (including ‘deep sinking’ section) – €100,000In particular the planning and design will focus on a section called the "Deep Sinking" where there is a significant grade difference between the towpaths and water surface of the canal. In a previous report by Fingal County Council an option included the construction a cantilevered boardwalk type facility.

The height of the boardwalk would be high above the canal in some parts and when completed a boardwalk style canal path could provide a really special experience similar to that of a tree top canopy experience

At a Longford Tourism event last night (24th Mar 2015), Waterways Ireland and Longford Tourism urged entrepreneurs and businesses in Longford to develop new enterprises along the Shannon Camlin Blueway.

A 10 kilometre looped trail of the Shannon and Camlin River, is to be opened next month which it’s hoped will be a focal point for boating, canoeing or other outdoor pursuits. Details were also presented of a 3 day Blueway festival that will be held in Clondra from April 24th to 26th.

The Camlin is complemented by the Royal Blueway, a 16 kilometre stretch of off-road walking and cycling route, from Clondra to Longford town.

At the event, Michael Carrigy from Longford Tourism and Eanna Rowe from Waterways Ireland outlined the plan to connect the royal canal cycle way all the way from Clondra/Longford town to the Westmeath border. It was highlighted that this would complete provide a significant spur off the planned Dublin Galway greenway. When combined with the section linking Mullingar to Athlone it is hoped that the royal canal greenway will become a major tourist attraction.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

At a recent meeting on local tourism in Longford, Waterways Ireland and Longford County Council presented an ambitious plan for trails in County Longford. The meeting on the 24th Feburary at Corlea Trackway Visitor Centre was organised by Longford Tourism and was attended by various local people. Eanna Rowe from Waterways Ireland present their vision for connecting the waterways and walking routes into a series of connected trails labelled as BlueWays.

In a futher development, Longford council has just issued proposals to undertake the provision of a shared pedestrian and cycle track along the Royal Canal towpath from Cloonsheerin Bridge in the Townland of Cloonsheerin (i.e. completing the link from Longford to Abbeyshrule). The development will consist of improvements to the towpath along the Royal Canal to provide a shared pedestrian and cycle path and plans and particulars of the proposed development are now available

When completed this route would join to the Dublin Galway greenway just outside Mullingar and would provide for access to Athlone or Dublin via this route.

Monday, March 16, 2015

DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has announced plans to build a cycle path along the Royal Canal in Dublin.

The project includes a cycle and pedestrian route along the Royal Canal from Sheriff Street Upper to Ashtown. The 7.5 km route has been divided into three phases and the work is expected to cost between €10-12 million.

The plans are part of the Royal Canal Greenway project which includes a fourth, already constructed, 400m link which runs along Guild Street from North Wall Quay to Sheriff Street Upper.

Once finished the path will complete Dublin’s section of the national cycle route from Dublin to Galway – which will be used in the EuroVelo Route 2.